CCC: Let's Play A Game
by Griffin of the Gates
Summary: WC-AU - MINISEQUEL TO 'COLDEST HEART'. You would think Cas and Neal would be tired of playing games. But a simple game of 20 questions may reveal some very disconcerting information. WARNING: Existence of an OC.
1. Hurt

_**Author's Note: This is a mini-sequel to my fanfic 'The Coldest Heart'. Cassie's entire existence and other references made in this story probably won't make sense unless you've read it. Just for a head's up. **_

_**Also, though Cassie is 19, I'll continue referring to her as 'girl' instead of woman for two reasons. Number 1: Less confusion for me. Number 2: She acts more like a child than an adult anyway. **_

_**Disclaimer: White Collar does not belong to me. My OC however is all my creation. **_

_**

* * *

**_

**Let's Play a Game**

Cassandra Caffrey was much too quiet for her own good. Nineteen years of being forced to tiptoe around a deranged man had served for good practice. A great skill if she was trying to be sneaky. Unfortunately, it was unnerving to Neal to know she existed and hearing barely two words out of her mouth.

Morning had dawned on a new day with Neal looking over some new cases. Cassie was sitting across from him. She had her own room in the house, courtesy of June. However, it was just a room and nothing more. Thus she preferred to sit at the table drinking coffee with her brother. Usually she provided at least a little conversation, but today she was completely silent as she peered over her portion of the paper. The classifieds.

Almost a month had passed since the nineteen year old had been released on probation. Now that Neal thought about it, he and his sister had not stopped to talk about serious stuff since then. He had a sense that something was bothering her.

Putting down his folder, he surveyed the girl closely. The youth was circling things on the paper with a pen, but he couldn't quite see what she was doing. Curious, he leaned forward.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked, playfully.

The teen paused, looking up. Seeing the close proximity of her brother, she pulled the paper under the sleeve of her shirt, hiding it from his view. Neal's eyebrows rose slightly, to think his sister was trying to hide things from him. Her mentor, the man who had taught her every trick she knew.

He stared at her, his blue eyed gaze as penetrating as an x-ray. Cassie grabbed for her coffee, suddenly. The consultant could not help but think about a remix to the Twix commercial. _Need a moment. Swallow it over with Italian Roast coffee. _The thought made Neal chuckle making his sister ever more suspicious.

"I'm not doing anything," she answered, putting her coffee down.

She looked back down at her paper, pulling it out from under her sleeve a little. Before she was able to put further protection up, Neal snatched the newspaper away from her. Cas grabbed for it, but he held it above her head while looking over the circle marks. _Francis' Music Store. Yours Truly Clothing. York's Coffee. _Neal had no idea what he was looking at. He could only imagine that his sister was planning an art heist, but he doubted that.

"Give it back, Neal!" the girl's voice cried, breaking into his confusion, "I'm not in the mood for games,"

An idea occurred to Neal. One that could help him get a little bit of information out of his sister while allowing her to get some of her own. A win-win situation. Only if she agreed, of course. The consultant sat down, placing the newspaper out of his sister's reach. She glared at him. If there was on thing that his sister's wasn't was a morning person.

Taking a sip of his coffee, Neal smiled over the rim, "Let's play a game,"

Cassie stiffened. She knew that it was all over. She knew that her father was never coming back to harass her and Neal. Nevertheless, there were four words in the world that she would rather never hear together in a sentence ever again. She could feel the fear erupting in her heart, blood thumping in her ears. A memory of the ordeal it had endured. Neal blanched when he realized his mistake.

"Twenty questions?" he finished, quickly.

The girl relaxed, slowly sliding back into her seat. She knew that game, two forms of it actually. There was the original form of twenty questions that involved one person thinking of a word and the other players asking twenty questions in an attempt to guess the word. And then there was the Caffrey family version. Two players, usually it had always been Neal and Cassie. Each of them got ten questions to ask each other. The only rule was that you had to answer honestly. No matter what. It had been the easiest way to get information out of one another. With each of them more like children than adults; it had the childishness to it that made everything seem worth it. Cassie could refuse to play, but just like her brother, she had some questions to ask. A few missing pieces of a puzzle she needed to finish.

"Fine. You first," she replied, leaning over the table.

Neal nodded, a smile playing on his lips. "What's with all the circled areas?"

The girl shrugged. What an easy question. "Looking for a job,"

With the surprised look that followed, she had a suspicion that her brother had suspected she was doing something illegal. The thought almost made Cas laugh. She too was bound to a two-mile radius like her brother. An anklet that monitored her whereabouts at all times chafed her leg every hour. Same as Neal. But, he broke the rules all the time, or at least that was what she heard from Peter. To think that she, the good one, would ever do that was almost unthinkable.

She asked the first question that came to mind from the mental list she had created. "What is it like working for the FBI?"

Neal pondered on his sister's question for a long time. Just with her first question she had shown that she was serious about this game. She wanted some information too.

"Playing for the other team is a little interesting," he responded.

To this Cassie gave a curt nod, urging him to take his turn. "Why do you want a job?"

This elicited a laugh from the girl followed by a look of pure disbelief. "Because I've got to be an honest citizen now. I'm bored sitting around here all day and I need money,"

Neal raised an eyebrow at the answer, but he gave his sister his turn. He would have to waste another question to ask further, but he didn't mind.

"What's it like working with Peter as a partner?"

Cassie adored Peter. He was almost like the father she never had. Or at least the father she would have rather had. He had taught her more than a few things in the past. But, truthfully, she had no idea how Neal himself got along with him.

"It's…ummm, okay, I guess?" he stumbled.

He wasn't lying really, but how could he explain the relationship he and Peter had? It was like fire and ice, lollipops and black licorice. They were two sides of the same coin. The serious one and the childish one. One could never exist without the other. But how could he explain that in words?

Luckily for him, Cas accepted the answer. She didn't challenge it as a lie. So, he moved on to his next question. "Why money? You've never been one for material things," he stated.

The teenager nodded a few times, thinking to herself. "Truthfully, I-I'd like to go to college. I think I'd study psychology or something like that,"

This took Neal completely by surprise. For a long time, he stared at his sister incredulously. Bothered by the look he was giving her, the girl finally interrupted him by asking her next question.

"What do you think Peter thinks about your partnership?" she asked.

Inwardly, Neal groaned. Why had he even asked to play this game again? He hadn't known his sister was going to ask such personal questions. If he lied to her, she would be angry with him for months, possibly years. She would never forgive him. It was just the way the game worked. The whole truth and nothing but. He looked up to the ceiling as if the architecture would give him some clue.

"I think he sees me as an annoyance a lot of the time, but I like to think that he sees me as a partner other times," he finally replied, his voice softer as he looked back to his sister.

It was his turn now. He had the best question ever. Since Cassie was going to get all deep and serious with her questions, then so was he.

He spoke seriously, almost as if he was going to punish her, "Where did you go?"

Almost instantly the teen knew what he was talking about. The year and a half after she had ran away from her foster home before she had gotten arrested, where had she run off to? Uneasiness spread through the girl and she fiddled nervously with her hair.

"Kate,"

The look in her brother's eyes scared Cas. His blue eyes went from surprised to hurt. A thought dawned on her when she realized that she hadn't even seen or heard tale of Kate for awhile. Looking around, as if she suddenly could find some clue to the woman's existence, she asked her next question.

"Where is she?"

The pain in Neal's eyes couldn't be missed. Cas wanted to take back the question. She didn't know why, but she just did. Something about it seemed to have a bad effect on her brother. His eyes welled with tears, but he wiped them away with an angry hand. He looked down at his fingers, looking for a wedding band that he wished had actually existed.

"She's gone," he said, his voice gravelly from forcing back the emotion threatening to pour out, "Never coming back,"

Cas didn't know how she knew that Kate was dead. Neal did not explain it very well and she didn't want to push it. The effect it had on him was scary. A few minutes was the time it took for the ex-con artist to pull himself together. Eyeing his sister seriously, he asked, "Why didn't she tell me that you were with her?"

Now it was the teen's turn to look at her fingers uncomfortably. "I kind of told her not to tell you,"

Neal stared, his frustration starting to rise. To think that his sister had been with Kate the entire time. All that time that he had been worried about her.

"What happened?"

The question took Neal by surprise. He had been lost in his thoughts of the past.

He sighed, knowing that he had to come to terms with it eventually. "A man led me on a goose chase for the last year after her, then blew up the plane she was on,"

Cassie cried out in horror at this. She had been attached to Kate. Not as much as Mozzie and Peter and Neal, but the woman had still played a big part in her life. Then suddenly, something dawned on the youth. Her eyes narrowed angrily at her older brother.

"You've been out for an entire year?" she inquired, trying to keep her tone even.

"Yes," replied Neal, somewhat confused at the sudden change in his sister's facial expressions.

To this answer, the girl narrowed her eyes even more. She leaned back in the chair, crossing her arms over her chest. Neal didn't pay attention, too worried about asking the next question. This game had led to interesting information. Maybe Kate had left some kind of information with Cassie.

"Did she say anything to you? Out of the ordinary?" he asked his tone somewhat excited.

"No," was her brusque reply.

Confusion settled over Neal as he noticed the way his sister was sitting. Her facial expression and the body language she was presenting. It was kind of obvious that she was upset.

"Did I do something to upset you?" he asked, thoroughly confused about the dirty looks he was getting.

"No," she replied, picking at her sleeves with disdain.

Anger flooded through Neal now. His sister was breaking the rules. After he had already considered it and thrown away the idea because he hadn't wanted to disappoint her.

"You're lying now?" he asked, not truly sure he wanted to directly accuse her.

The teen looked up, a smirk playing on her lips as her gaze met his. The look she gave sent chills down his spine. "Not a bit,"

"Will you cut it out and tell me what's wrong?" he snapped, breaking away from the game.

"I don't think I will," she replied. She sounded almost like she was teasing except in that cruel way that bullies did sometimes.

"Is it Kate?" he asked, wanting to know what had gotten into his sister.

The girl smiled and shook her head in disappointment, chuckling as she did so, "No,"

"What is wrong then?"

By this time, Cassie had started clearing away her things. Gathering, the unguarded classified ads and coffee in her arms as she stood. She looked back at him with a fake smile. "Uh-uh Neal Caffrey, you are out of questions,"

With that, the teenager turned towards the door, heading towards her room down the hall. Neal ran after her, catching up as she opened the door.

"Cas, please?"

She turned around in response to his plea, but he started to wish he hadn't. There was such a cold look in the teen's eyes. She looked hurt.

"Would it have hurt to visit once?" she asked, her voice cracking as she bit back a sob, "Just once?"

Understanding dawned on the man. He suddenly felt like such a sham, a complete jerk. Truthfully, he had been so worried about Kate. The thought of visiting his sister had never come up. She had been within his two mile radius yes and that made it all the worse that he had forgotten. He hadn't even thought about it until the events of a month before with the secret folder. Kate had been given his undivided attention. Cas had been a vague thought in the back of his mind. She was in jail and an adult; she didn't need him visiting her. But that was just an excuse for his carelessness and he knew it.

"Cassie, I didn't mean to…," he apologized.

Cas interrupted him with a stubborn laugh. "Yeah right,"

A sound downstairs caught her attention and she looked in the direction of the stairs. She turned back to her brother who was almost ready to spout off another apology.

"Forget it. You can make up for it later," she said, eyes empty, "Go get dressed, Peter's here,"

Sure enough, a minute later, Peter Burke appeared at the top of the stairs. With a quiet, 'hello', Cassie disappeared, her quiet nature as she walked away reminding the agent of a ghost. Turning his head in confusion to his partner, he received a disgruntled shrug.

"Sibling rivalry,"

He walked off to get dressed leaving Peter to stand out in the hall. But inside his room, the consultant wasn't getting dressed. Instead he was thinking about the mistake he had made and how impossible it was to unmake it. He didn't know how he could make up for it. He wished that it was easy as saying he was sorry. Remembering Kate, Neal sighed.

Sorry didn't cut it anymore.


	2. Regret

**Author's Note: I am SO sorry you guys. I did not mean to keep everyone waiting for this chapter for so long. It started as writer's block at first because I realized that I did not want to leave the end of the story open before I start with 'Broader Horizons'. So, to finish off the storyline presented in this mini-sequel, the one-shot has now become a three-shot. By the end of the three chapters, everything should be wrapped up enough to continue the next sequel. **

**Another problem thrown into my path was NaNo which originally I planned to participate in with a new novel, now that I've grown increasingly annoyed, I have decided to just focus on my fanfiction and current works for the time being. Great for you, right? XD**

**So without further ado, here is the second chapter of this three-chapter minisequel. Sorry if it is so short, but it has been hard getting to this point. **

**

* * *

**

**Regret**

Neal was distracted; it was plainly obvious to the majority of his teammates. Peter especially. He had a suspicion that it had something to do with what Neal seemed to call 'sibling rivalry'. Nevertheless, the words seemed to ring in his head like a burning lie. Something about it all was bothering his friend and it worried Peter.

The consultant was staring blankly out the office window and every once in awhile he would cast a forlorn glance at the clock. Sometimes he did actually look down at his work, but a few seconds later he would sling the folder away and did not bother with it for another half hour. Usually the man's laziness would have bother Peter, but for once he did not care.

The case they were dealing with at the moment didn't present a hard enough case to even bother with the consultant's help; they just wanted to pretend to keep him busy. That was the only reason for even calling him into work.

Signaling the team sitting around him with a silent wave of his hand, Peter cleared out the entire conference room. The only people remaining were his distracted partner and himself. Testing his theory of how in tune with his surroundings the consultant was, Peter asked a simple question.

The head of the silver-tongued ex-con man popped up at the sound of the agent's voice.

"It had to be the manager, he is the only who had the motive and the time to get this done," was the instant reply that came pouring from his mouth.

Peter shook his head, his palm resting against his face. He could not help but chuckle at the attention span of his partner. Finally, he fell silent looking up to meet the familiar blue eyes of Neal Caffrey.

"That's great, Neal, really great. I'm glad that you just solved the entire case we've been working on for the past three hours, but I was just asking if you wanted any coffee," he told the man.

Neal's face fell. Truthfully, he had not heard a word that Peter had said before. All he had caught was the inflection of the man's voice that signified it as a question. He had just assumed that the question dealt with the case. "Oh, my bad," he replied, his voice soft as he returned his gaze to the center of the table.

Suddenly it occurred to the consultant that there was no one else in the room. He looked back up, a look of interest appearing on his face. "Where is everyone?"

Peter settled into a seat beside Neal. "I sent them away," he told him.

Neal looked up to the agent, his face betraying nothing as he inquired, "Why?"

"Because I thought that you and I needed to talk,"

This did not sit well with the consultant. As smooth and suave as the man could be, he could not keep the nervousness that appeared on his face when he heard Peter say those words. He stomach muscles clenched as he watched, practically in slow motion, as his partner opened his mouth and spoke.

"What's up?"

A glint of confusion lit up the eyes of the ex-con man. "What do you mean, Peter?" he asked, his tone full of the bewilderment that he felt.

"You have been up in the clouds since early this morning. I want to know what happened, what's going on in that head of yours?" Peter explained.

At first, Neal wanted to lie to Peter. The man did not need to know what was going on, he had no business butting himself into the life of the ex-con and his family. But then he realized that there was only one other person that he could talk to about his problem.

"It's Cassie," he said, his tone giving away his true need for help.

A smile fluttered across the agent's face. "Oh, ho. What's this now? Is living with an adult female _exactly _like you too much for _the _Neal Caffrey?

The consultant glared at his partner angrily. "No. It-it's me, I guess. We sort of played a game of twenty questions, just for information purposes,"

Peter raised his eyebrows a little. He had heard Neal refer to the Caffrey style of twenty questions before, any information the man may have found out would defiantly be worth listeningg to.

"I found out where she was," the consultant remembered.

For only a minute was Peter in the dark because just as Neal opened his mouth to explain, he realized what the man had meant. The time when she had run off and no one knew where she could be found, right before she had been arrested. The agent leaned a bit closer, anxious to hear the answer he had searched long and hard for.

"She was with Kate," Neal finished quickly, too afraid that Peter would get too worked up over something so simple.

The agent's eyes opened wide. He had considered many different places that the young girl could have disappeared off to during that year. But Kate Moreau had not even made the list. Peter's eyes narrowed all over again and he looked closely at his morose partner.

"So, what's the problem then?" he asked, still not sure if he had things thought out correctly.

Neal seemed a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. He started wringing his fingers together roughly, his face pinching into a look of disappointment.

"I didn't visit her,"

The thought had never occurred to Peter that Neal had never asked for a time off to visit Cassie. Though the jail she had resided in throughout her entire sentence was within his two mile radius. But, he guessed there may have been some problems involved nevertheless. He kept his mouth shut, letting Neal finish with his explanation. He did not want to make things any worse than they already seemed. Especially since the stopper on the consultant's mouth had been unplugged and his words were flowing a lot faster now.

"I was so worried about Kate, that I forgot and now I want to make it up to her, but….," the man paused, looking up to meet the eyes of the only man he trusted, his friend, "How do you make up for something like that?"

The idea came almost instantly to Peter. Which he found oddly helpful since he had been afraid that he would have nothing to tell the man. That Neal's plea for advice had been unheard. But thankfully, there was a small piece of advice that he could give.

"You may get angry at me for this Neal, but I'm going to return a piece of advice that you gave me a while back," he began.

Neal eyes Peter with almost suspicious eyes. What came next, he was not sure,

"Did you ever make a promise? One that you might not have been able to keep?"

The consultant's eyes filled with sorrow. There were many promises that he had not kept, especially when it came to Cassie. But what was one that was important enough to make up for what he had done. Peter watched as suddenly, the younger man's eyes lit up. It was obvious as he had been presenting gloomy look for the majority of the day.

There was indeed a specific promise that Neal had made to his sister. One that a well-dressed FBI agent with a knack for catching the uncatchable had ruined. The consultant turned to look at his partner, gleeful mischief lighting up his features. Seeing the look in his eyes, Peter instantly began shaking his, a look of displeasure crossing his own face.

"No. Whatever it is you are about to ask, no," he stated automatically before the smooth talker could open his mouth.

Neal's shoulders slouched a little, but he did not lose hope. "Please, Peter," he pleaded, his eyes looking almost like that of a lost puppy, "You owe me one,"

The agent shook his head, picking up a nearby paper and pretending to read it. "Nope. As I recall it is you that owes me,"

This comment was brushed a side with a simple wave of the ex-con artist's hand. "A simple technicality, nothing more," he said, smoothly.

Peter peered over the paper with a look of calm interest. "Really?"

"Pretty please Peter? At least hear me out first before you say anything," he begged.

Time passed, a few minutes, maybe only a second or two. Finally the agent shrugged and put the paper down before turning back to his consultant turned puppy.

"Fine,"

"It involves taking off my anklet,"

Peter felt his palm connect painfully with his face. _It's going to be a long day. _


	3. Forgiveness

**Forgiveness**

They ambushed Cassie at the Jefferson Market Library. She had gone down there in hopes of finding more job openings. Her original intentions were side-tracked by a book that she had waited her entire time in jail to find and read. Sitting down into a comfy sofa-like chair, she had prepared herself to spend a good amount of the day sitting there.

Jones expected the young woman to apprehensive as soon as she saw the Feds arrive. She took it calmly, however, not even looking up from her book once. If he had not known better he would have guessed that she hadn't see them. He knew that she knew they were there. Not much could be gotten past the young woman; she was Neal Caffrey's sister after all. Ready to jump at even the slightest scent of trouble, there was no way that the girl had missed the Federal agents stepping in.

The agent brought a partner along. He did not automatically assume that the girl would be violent, but he wanted to be perfectly sure that she did not get away from him. A few feet away from the chair Cassie was sitting in, Jones broke off from his partner, signaling him back. He would approach the teen alone. Just like they had planned.

Standing only a few feet away, the man towered over the girl, casting a shadow over her page. Still she refused to look up or to even acknowledge his existence there. Instead, the agent found himself forced to instigate the conversation.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Caffrey,"

Without moving her head at all, the woman replied, "Good afternoon, Mr. Jones,"

He watched in frustrated wonder as she turned a page of the book and seemingly continued to read. The FBI agent sighed, shaking his head wretchedly. This teenager was worse than her brother when it came to obliviousness.

" Ms. Caffrey…," he began.

Still not moving anything other than her mouth, the girl interrupted him, "Cassie,"

Jones' eyebrow rose slightly at this statement. He wasn't entirely sure if he understood what she meant or not. He fell silent, pausing to analyze exactly what she meant. The nineteen-year-old peered over her book, blue eyes glittering.

"It's Cassie," she explained, "As opposed to Ms. Caffrey ?"

The agent opened his mouth in the form of an 'o' suddenly realizing what she meant.

He repeated the name out loud, hoping that it would remind him to use that form of address from now on. The young woman nodded, her eyes disappearing behind her book once more.

A few minutes passed, the agent hovering patiently over the reading girl. He cast a sideways glance at his partner who only shrugged in reply. There was just no understanding how to deal with people as calm and collected as the Caffreys. Jones cleared his throat, trying to get the reader's attention, but she ignored him.

Eventually, however, her own uneasiness at the agent's presence took over. Not allowing the nervousness to reach her face, however, she closed her book and placed it tenderly on her lap. Her inquisitive eyes scanned over the face of the agent, but she learned nothing. Cassie forced a smile. No one said that he _was_ there on official business.

"What is it?" she asked, all her strength used to keep her voice from shaking.

Inwardly, Jones gave a relieved sigh. He had started to fear that he would be stuck in the library all day long.

"I have been asked to escort you to Agent Burke. He would like to talk to you," he said, matching his words exactly with what Peter had told him to say.

The heart of the teen froze for a second, but she forced herself to push her fears back. There was something definitely going on and she was going to have to follow the trail to find out. She stood up, politely returning her book back to its original place before turning back to Jones.

The agent and his partner flanked her on both sides as they led her outside. The ambush was advanced further when as soon as they reached the car, Jones pressed Cassie up against it. Instant fear shot through her when she felt the cold metal touch her skin.

"Cassandra Caffrey, you are under arrest in suspicion of going against your probation. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say…," the man started the long rehearsed speech as he clicked the handcuffs around the girl's wrists.

The words began to blend together, Cassie not caring about them. She had heard them before. She did not care to hear them all over again. Ducking her head, she felt herself glide into the back seat, following soon after by Jones. She did not know why he was sitting in the back with her, but she ignored the thought. His partner took the driver's seat.

As they began to drive away from the library, the young teenager was startled by a tap on her shoulder. She turned with a blank look on her face as she watched the agent point towards her anklet. As they struggled to get it off, the girl's mind whirled with questions. For one, what the hell was going on? When had she broken any of the rules set by her probation officer and Peter? She could not recall ever doing so. She did not understand what was happening, but she was glad that she was able to keep her hands and mind busy. Insanity would have ensued if not.

The troublesome anklet finally fell off just as the car came to a complete stop. Cassie had the vague suspicion that the anklet had been a distraction entirely. The door on her right opened letting bright light seep into the teen's eyes. Cassie blinked as she felt a hand grip around her arm, pulling her out of the seat.

It was the smell that hit her first. An array of different aromas. All beautiful and appetizing. Some of them she recognized, others she did not know at all. The owner of the arm led her on. She realized suddenly that it was Peter, but did not acknowledge him right away. She was almost afraid of what was going to happen next.

Blinking away the bright light in her eyes, Cas let herself take a look at her surroundings. There were trees everywhere; they surrounded her on all sides. She assumed that some of them were responsible for the scents drifting up her nose. The towering giants frightened her almost. Where had so many trees come from all of a sudden? Were they even still in New York? The only thing that made her believe they were was that the ride had not taken that long.

Fear eating at her heart, the young woman looked up to her guide. "What's going on, Peter?" she pleaded.

The man had a smile on his face as he paused. He pointed a finger in a particular direction as he replied, "Why don't you go ask him?"

Turning her head, Cassie saw her brother. Neal Caffrey was sitting under the branches of a large oak tree. His body occupied only a small space of a red and white checkered picnic blanket where a spread of food occupied the rest.

Confusion flashed across the girl's face as she looked back to Peter. "Go on," he urged.

Cassie backed away from the agent slowly. She trusted Peter wholeheartedly, but she still dared not turn her back on him. When she was a lot closer to Neal, she finally turned. The man was smiling mischievously when she arrived. Seeing the bewildered look on her face, he lifted up a bowl of potato salad.

"Hungry?" he asked.

The young girl sank onto an empty space on the cloth. She stared at her brother in puzzlement.

"Neal, wha-what is this?" she asked.

Her brother served out a helping of potato salad onto his plate and handed another to his sister. "I'm keeping a promise,"

It took only a moment to realize what he was saying. She relaxed finally, accepting the food with an excited thank you. When they were finished eating, the two siblings found themselves sprawled out. Half their bodies on the blanket and the other half off. Cassie watched leaves fall off the trees with wonder and delight. This was a dream come true.

"Do you remember when I made that promise, Cas?" the man asked, his voice almost forlorn.

"Yeah,"

"You were upset about how boring and lifeless New York was after you moved in with me," he continued.

Cassie laughed, her eyes following the path of a red leaf as it drifted in the wind. "I remember,"

"And so I promised to bring you here one day and we would have a picnic," he finished.

The young woman pushed herself off the ground with her elbow, leaning against her wrist as she stared across the space at her brother. The man was watching her with eyes lost in the past.

"Like a real family," she said softly.

Neal nodded. "Like a real family,"

She following her brother's gaze to the sky, watching strange shaped clouds float by. They were silent for a long time. It wasn't awkward, it actually felt normal. Unfortunately, something was still eating at Neal Caffrey.

"Cas, I want to make up for what I did. I abandoned you, long before our arrests. I should have been there," he mused.

Cassie looked over at her brother with a serious look on her face. Feeling her gaze on him, he looked too.

"We can't unwrite the past, Neal. But we can write the future," she said with a smile.

Neal nodded slowly. He smiled, realizing that his sister was forgiving him. They sat there a little longer. Two siblings enjoying a bonding moment together.

* * *

Meanwhile, Agents Peter Burke and Jones watched from the car. Both Caffreys had no tracking anklets at the time. They watched the siblings, ever so still and calm as they watched the clouds go by.

"How long are they gonna lay there?" Jones asked, inquiringly.

Peter could not help but laugh. "They could lie there forever,"

Jones looked up at him skeptically. "You can't be serious. Don't they need to talk or something like that? Isn't that what siblings are supposed to do?"

The older agent smiled wryly and looked at his clasped hands, leaning his elbows on his knees as he watched his marks from afar.

"They're the kind of siblings that are satisfied just being in each other's presence," he explained.

The 'student' of this particular lesson nodded. Peter let his thoughts wander. Neal and Cassie were the closest siblings he had ever met. Even through trials of jail time and abandonment, they still prospered in each other's existence. It would take a lot to separate them for a good.

The scalded splendor of a bond forged by fire.

_The End_

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note: It's the end of the Mini-sequel. But not the end of the story. Neal and Cassie's story will be continued with 'Broader Horizons'. **

**Thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that I was able to wrap up this 3-part story so that we may continue on. Hope to 'see' you all back for the posting of my upcoming story. **


End file.
